Monday, March 21, 2011

Obamacare: one year later

Yes, today is the ‘passage’ anniversary of the dreaded bill that statist policy-makers pursued for decades. And still, the people remain opposed to this unconstitutional power play. A piece in the Weekly Standard elaborates on the laws unpopularity in the face of Democrat leaders’ fawning:

“One year ago today, the then-Democratic House of Representatives openly disregarded the cool and deliberate sense of the people and rammed Obamacare down the American people’s throats. At the time, the Democrats claimed that their bill would become more popular once Americans found out what was in it (a process that, as Democrats explained, required passing it). A year later, polls show that Obamacare’s popularity has declined even further.”

This article goes on to cover several different polls to illustrate Obamacare’s unpopularity with both Democrats and Republicans. In analyzing the continuous Rasmussen poll since Obamacare’s passage, the Standard points out “The biggest condemnation of all, across 53 consecutive Rasmussen polls, beginning the day that the president signed Obamacare into law and proceeding to today, is that Americans have supported repeal in all 53 of them…”

There are multiple factors driving its unpopularity, but in a time of economic uncertainty, Americans for Tax Reform makes the case that perhaps the ‘silent killer’ in the room is the burdensome issue of higher taxes:

“One year ago this week, Obamacare was signed into law by President Obama. This jobs-killing law will certainly wreck America’s healthcare system, but what many don’t know is that Obamacare is also one of the largest tax increases in American history. Obamacare contains 21 new or higher taxes on American families and small businesses—seven of which fall on families making less than $250,000 per year (in direct violation of President Obama’s campaign promise).”

Surprise, surprise.

Republicans should use every tool at their disposal, including changing procedural rules when the opportunity arises (as Democrats took), to defund every aspect of this lawlessness, until a sensible administration is ready to return healthcare and other industries to the free market.